School Mental Health Specialist

Role overview

The University of Washington’s Forefront Suicide Prevention team, in partnership with the UW School of Social Work, is hiring a full-time School Mental Health Specialist. This position is centered on strengthening community-based suicide prevention efforts across Washington State and helping schools move through a structured process of assessing needs, planning improvements, implementing action steps, and evaluating outcomes. The role also supports Forefront’s school-based initiatives and its collaboration with the JED Foundation to expand JED High School programming in Washington.

The JED Foundation’s comprehensive model for mental health promotion offers evidence-based guidance that schools and districts can use to build stronger student mental health and suicide prevention systems.

What you will do

This role focuses on coordinating the administrative, operational, and program-related work connected to school-based programming.

Program implementation and technical assistance

• Recruit, organize, and manage a consulting group of 30 to 40 high schools in Washington over a three-year period.
• Support schools through the full JED PK-12 program process, with an emphasis on consultation-driven collaboration.
• Use your school mental health expertise to provide direct technical support to schools and districts on evidence-based practices, programming, and policies for PK-12 settings.
• Review and combine information from multiple data sources to create feedback reports, strategic plans, and other tools that help school and district partners understand the findings.
• Work with school and district staff to create a data-based strategy for improving school mental health supports, suicide prevention efforts, and related student support systems.
• Help school and district leaders use community engagement effectively during the different stages of JED’s PK-12 programs.
• Contribute to the creation of materials, presentations, activities, and other resources for professional development sessions, community meetings, and related events.
• Recommend practical, evidence-based approaches and creative solutions to address each school or district’s challenges during multi-year projects.
• Support additional school mental health consulting work as needed.

Monitoring and evaluation

• Encourage and guide schools and districts in completing baseline assessments, surveys, and other data collection tasks tied to the program.
• Lead partners through an ongoing review process to track progress and assess impact.
• Use Salesforce and other required JED processes to document and monitor program metrics for quality assurance and evaluation purposes.

Project management

• Develop and sustain positive working relationships with school and district leaders to support successful program participation.
• Track each partner’s progress throughout the life of the engagement.
• Manage project timelines and help ensure that schools and districts meet milestones on schedule.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of Forefront School Based programs.

Required qualifications

Applicants must show that they meet both the minimum and additional qualifications listed for consideration. Equivalent education or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications unless a legal requirement applies, such as a license, certification, or registration.

• Master’s-level training in psychology, social work, school counseling, or a related field.
• At least 2 years of experience working with adolescents in educational, healthcare, or community-based settings.
• Applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications will not move forward to the hiring manager.

Additional qualifications

• Self-motivated, outcome-focused, and positive in approach, with strong problem-solving ability.
• Strong research, analytical, and critical thinking skills, including the ability to interpret data and turn it into useful conclusions.
• Excellent speaking and presentation skills.
• Strong writing skills, including experience preparing report-style documents.
• Well-developed interpersonal and relationship-building skills, including the ability to initiate new partnerships.
• Strong commitment to Forefront’s mission and to expanding access to comprehensive suicide prevention across Washington State.

Preferred qualifications

• 3 to 5+ years of experience in secondary education systems is strongly preferred.
• Solid working knowledge of school-based mental health, social-emotional learning, suicide prevention, and substance use prevention.
• Experience developing and managing programs.
• Bilingual ability in English and Spanish.

Application requirements

A cover letter must be included with the application to be considered.

Compensation and employment details

The pay range for this regular, full-time position is $71,952 to $88,776 per year. The role is 100% FTE, with a first-shift schedule in the United States. Union or bargaining unit status is not applicable.

Benefits

Benefit information is available through the University of Washington staff benefits page.

About the University of Washington

The University of Washington offers the opportunity to contribute to meaningful work that improves lives on campus, across the state, and around the world. Employees benefit from a strong environment for professional growth, diverse colleagues, creative problem-solving, intellectual energy, and natural surroundings.

Equal opportunity and accommodations

The University of Washington is committed to an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming workplace. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status, consistent with UW Executive Order No. 81. Applicants needing disability accommodations during the application process may contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu.

Disclosure requirement

Applicants selected for this role must disclose whether they are subject to any substantiated findings or active investigations involving sexual misconduct in their current or past employment, as required by Washington state law.